Our innovation and catalyst grants support creative and bold proposals to generate paradigm-shifting insights into the biology of brain aging, the drivers of neurodegenerative disease and opportunities to promote brain health and resilience long into what we now consider "old age".
Innovation grant projects
Mutant microglia and resilience to Alzheimer’s disease
This project aims to identify how mutant peripheral immune cells that invade the brain might actually reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk. The research will explore how to mimic these cells’ resilience-promoting effects to design new Alzheimer’s therapies.
Mechanistic dissection and therapeutic capture of an exercise-inducible metabolite signaling pathway for brain resilience
Exercise improves cognition and protects against age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, but further research is needed to understand exactly how this occurs. This project aims to pave the way for therapeutics that can capture the benefits of exercise for promoting brain resilience.
Manipulating inflammation in the aging brain to promote brain resilience
Inflammation is a hallmark of brain aging, yet the source of inflammation in the old brain — and how to eliminate it — is unknown. This team aims to provide insight on how inflammation affects the aging brain that could potentially lead to the generation of new therapies to promote brain resilience.
Role of Proteostasis and Organelle Homeostasis in Brain Resilience during Aging
This team aims to define how and why protein production breaks down in aging cells, leading to disease. This research may lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches against neurodegenerative diseases and potentially aging itself.
Unleashing engineered T cells as disease sensors and therapeutic actuators for neurodegenerative disease
This project will explore whether amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) result from immune cells attacking altered neurons. The team aims to pioneer the use of engineered immune cells as therapies for neurodegenerative disorders.
From gut to brain: reprogramming peripheral macrophages at the intestinal barrier to prevent age-associated inflammation and cognitive decline
This team will investigate whether a decline in intestinal immune cell metabolism drives age-related inflammation and cognitive decline. By replacing aged intestinal macrophages with metabolically healthy ones, they hope to develop a novel approach to enhance cognitive resilience.